A new mayor will take the oath of office in Miller on May 4.

Ron Blachford, who is the county highway superintendent, will take over the office of mayor on that day. He has no opposition.

He will replace Tom McGough, a Miller teacher and coach, who did not seek re-election.

A Miller native, Blachford has worked for the county for the past 31 years, serving as the highway superintendent for 25 years.

He graduated from Miller High School in 1957and started working on the family farm.

He moved into the town of Miller in 1969.

Blachford has served six years on the city council and sought the post of mayor this year.

His city council seat will be taken over by Joe Zeller in Ward 2, who is new to the council.

Two other councilmen, Lorin Johnson, Miller, Ward 1, and Jim Odegaard, Miller, Ward 3, are incumbents.

Johnson is employed at Mid-Dakota Water and Odegaard works for Dakota Energy.

McGough has served on the city council for 11 years, including several years as mayor.

With none of the candidates facing any opposition, there will be no election in Miller April 14.

Blachford, whose wife recently died, has three children, Ronette (Steve) Stewart of Fort Pierre; Mark (Belinda) Blachford of New Mexico; and Jason (Jenny) Blachford of Watertown.

As he assumes the job of mayor, Blachford said he wants to be “Miller oriented.”

“My goal is to be pro-active instead of reactive,” he said.

He also wants the city to develop a long-range plan for future development.

Blachford, who will be 70 in June, is a member of the Baptist Church and has served as a fireman for 13 years.

As for the Miller Board of Education, that election is not held until June.

Meanwhile, there will be elections in seven Heartland Region communities.

The Hitchcock-Tulare Board of Education has three people running for two positions.

The candidates are incumbents Jim Frankenstein and Tony Binger and challenger Will Chaplin.

De Smet residents will select a new city council member. Incumbent Ward 2 councilman Dan Schultz is not seeking re-election.

Seeking to replace him are Donald Flickinger and Michael Urevig, both of De Smet.

The De Smet Board of Education doesn’t have an election until June.

Woonsocket Mayor John Ball is being opposed by John Ames at the April 14 election.

Ames is employed at VanDykes, while Ball, who has served 12 years as mayor, is retired.

In Ward 2, incumbent Larry Podhradsky is being opposed by Michael Kogel. Podhradsky is employed by Waste Management and Kogel works for the state Highway Department.

In the school board election at Woonsocket, three incumbents filed for re-election. They are Jim Grassel, Dan Swenson and Todd Olinger. A fourth seat will be filled by appointment in July.

Huron voters will go to the polls to elect a city commissioner and two school board members.

Incumbent city commissioner Pat Haley is being opposed by Mark Robish, while Tim Van Berkum, Nichole Yost and Steve Fryberger are vying for two seats on the school board.

Incumbent school board members Joanne Groves and Mike Turnwall did not seek re-election.

The Wolsey City Council will have no election, but the Wolsey-Wessington Board of Education has three people vying for two seats.

The candidates are Cheryl Van Asperen of Wessington, Ted Haeder of Wolsey and Keith Larsen of Wolsey.

Van Asperen, who works for Cennex in Wessington, and Haeder, who is employed in Watertown, are the incumbents. Larsen is a farmer.

In Wessington Springs, Greg Vavra was the only person to file nominating petitions for the Ward 2 slot on the city council. He has no opposition.

The Wessington Springs Board of Education has its election in June.

There will be no election for the Highmore-Harrold Board of Education, while Sanborn Central at Forestburg will vote in June.

Greg Bich is the only person to file nominating petitions for the Iroquois Board of Education and will face no opposition.

At Doland, only one person filed for each of the three vacancies on the school board, and for the one city council post.

The three school board candidates elected unopposed are Dede Stahl, one year term; Gary Tschetter and Julie Schneider, both three-year terms.

Roger Vick was the only candidate to file for a two-year term on the city council from Ward 2.

There is no city council election in Willow Lake and the school board vote will be held in June.

At Redfield, there is no city council election and the school board candidates will be elected in June.





For the complete article see the 04-03-2009 issue.

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